GA-ASI Completes Final Qualification Test For Gray Eagle’s New HFE 2.0 Engine

GA-ASI Completes Final Qualification Test For Gray Eagle’s New HFE 2.0 Engine

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) last month completed the final qualification test for its new Heavy Fuel Engine (HFE) 2.0 set to power the upgraded Gray Eagle (GE) 25M drone.

Following the three-week qualification test for the 200-horsepower HFE 2.0 engine, GA-ASI said the next step is the Army certification process to also allow use of the engine on the service’s existing fleet of Gray Eagle Extended Range drones.

“This test is the culmination of the extensive durability and flight test program for the HFE 2.0 engine,” GA-ASI President David Alexander said in a statement. “It’s been great to see the outstanding test results that have validated the design and development of the HFE 2.0 engine we have worked on so passionately for the past seven years and to bring this world-class engine to the Gray Eagle fleet.”

Last month’s culminating qualification test occurred at the GA-ASI’s flight facility in El Mirage, California and was aligned with the Federal Aviation Administration’s endurance test requirements, according to the company.

“Over the last 18 months, HFE 2.0 excelled in strenuous durability testing that included 2,450 full power cycles simulating high stress conditions during three extensive test profiles of 200, 400, and 651 hours,” the company said in a statement. “Additionally, the engine completed 50 hours of flight testing across the flight envelope.”

GA-ASI has described the HFE 2.0 engine for its modernized Gray Eagle fleet as a “highly reliable low-maintenance engine with a 40 percent increase in service life providing longer maintenance-free operational period.”

In January, GA-ASI announced the first flight of its new Gray Eagle 25M UAS, which the company has noted which features the new HFE 2.0 engine and is designed with a Modular Open Systems Architecture (MOSA) approach to allow for rapid integration of new capabilities, advanced datalinks and an upgraded propulsion system.

The first flight test of the Gray Eagle 25M, conducted in early December 2023, focused on testing flight critical operations and assessing the new variant’s HFE 2.0 engine and power generation systems.

GA-ASI has said the Gray Eagle 25M’s power generation system was designed in coordination with the Army’s Project Manager Endurance Uncrewed Aircraft System (PM EUAS), which it added will decrease “major maintenance actions and virtually eliminates the need for overhaul.”

The Army awarded GA-ASI a production contract for Gray Eagle 25M worth up to $389 million in early December 2023 and in late May the Army National Guard placed an order for 12 of the new drones.

GA-ASI last month noted it worked with General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems to design the HFE 2.0’s dual brushless generator, which it said will deliver over 50 percent more electrical power to support new payloads, will “dramatically reduce” field maintenance, and it’s designed as a “drop-in replacement” for the Gray Eagle’s existing generator.

The post GA-ASI Completes Final Qualification Test For Gray Eagle’s New HFE 2.0 Engine appeared first on Avionics International.

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